On Tuesday, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) lodged a complaint against Lakshadweep MP and NCP leader Mohammed Faizal, his nephew, and others over charges of corruption and irregularities, including an alleged scheme in the shipment of tuna fish to a Sri Lankan business. The CBI conducted searches at six locations related to MP Mohammed Faisal across Delhi, Calicut, and Lakshadweep.
According to the reports, CBI received information relating to irregularities in the procurement of Massmeen (dry tuna fish) from fishermen of Lakshadweep island during the year 2016-2017. Khan reportedly gave false assurance of a higher rate and exported the same through M/s. Lakshadweep Co-operative Marketing Federation Ltd to Sri Lanka. On June 25, a combined surprise inspection was performed at the LCMF Ltd offices in Kavaratti (Lakshadweep) and Calicut (Kerala).
It was revealed that during the fiscal year 2016-17, Mohd Faizal, MP, Lakshadweep, falsely assured to LCMF that a foreign buyer M/s SRT General Merchants Importers and Exporters, Colombo 11, Sri Lanka is prepared to buy Massmeen at a higher rate than the uniform price. In its meeting on November 21, 2016, the Board of Directors of LCMF Ltd then decided to procure the dry tuna from poor fishermen of Lakshadweep Island, and subsequently procured approximately 287 MT of dry tuna from them of various islands of Union Territory of Lakshadweep through relevant co-operative societies of islands.
During this procedure, the LCMF assured the fishermen that they would be paid more than the current rates. The case was handled by MP Anwar, the then-Managing Director of LCMF, without following any rules or procedures and relying solely on the guarantee of Mohd Faizal, MP Lakshadweep. Based on the aforementioned surprise check, a senior CBI official in New Delhi filed a complaint, which indicated that Mohd Abdul Razik of Lakshadweep, a relative of Mohd Faizal, MP, Lakshadweep, was the representative of M/s SRT, Colombo, Sri Lanka in this affair.
All the arrangements were made by Mohd Faizal, MP for Lakshadweep, and he was crucial in establishing the dry tuna exporter M/s Accelerated Freeze Drying Company (AFDC), Cochin, Kerala, through LCMF Ltd. Following that, LCMF Ltd. entered into an arrangement with M/s AFDC, a Cochin-based exporter agency, in which terms of reference for dry tuna export were agreed upon.
However, the project could not materialize due to AFDC’s unwillingness to pay Rs 60 lacs for the first shipment of 10 MT of maasmeen exported to the Sri Lankan business. As a result of the above, the firm M/s AFDC, Cochin experienced a loss of roughly Rs 60 lakhs and did not continue the lifting of additional Massmeen through LCMF, as per the agreement. Finally, although M/s. AFDC suffered a loss of Rs 60 lakhs, the impoverished fishermen of Lakshadweep Islands and LCMF suffered a loss of Rs 9 crores.
It is important to note that amid the progressive reforms brought up by the Lakshadweep Administrator Praful Patel in year 2021, MP Mohammed Faisal had declared that beef-eating was a constitutional right of Lakshadweep people. Patel had floated a number of proposals aimed at ensuring the safety and well-being of residents, along with promoting the islands as a tourist destination on par with the Maldives.
The draft Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation (LDAR) 2021 also proposed a new law to ban cow slaughter and beef, which is in line with the prevailing law in most of the states in India. Opposing the proposals, MP Mohammed Faisal had said that eating beef was constitutional right of the people of Lakshadweep and that the new proposals were aimed at undermining the ‘Islamic character’ of the island where Muslims constitute 96% of the total population.
